


Scars and Broken Dreams

by WanderingMystic



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Gender Neutral Farmer, Self-Harm, Shane - Freeform, Stardew Valley - Freeform, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:51:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7274266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingMystic/pseuds/WanderingMystic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shane wasn't the biggest fan of the new farmer in town, but when they noticed the scars of his past, he knew he had to explain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scars and Broken Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello there,  
> This is the first thing I've written in a very long time, so please pardon if I'm a bit rusty. I'll get back in the swing of things eventually. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

It was another cold winter day in Pelican Town, and also the second day of the week long predicted snow storm. Shane woke up in a haze, with a terrible hangover from the night before. Working and drinking himself to sleep were the only things Shane knew how to do anymore. He got up out of bed, got dressed, threw on his Joja jacket, and went to the kitchen.  
"Good morning Shane, how did you sleep?" Marnie asked from over the stove as she made breakfast for the household. Shane replied with nothing more than a grunt as he reached for the medicine to dull his pounding headache. He sat back down at the table that was now occupied by an energetic Jas talking about her plans to play with Vincent after tutoring. Marnie brought everyone their respective breakfasts, and Shane, as per usual, ate as quickly as possible before heading down to work.   
Joja was the place where souls went to die. Or at least for Shane it was. He walked into the backroom and threw his jacket into his locker, since the store's heat was cranked all the way up. He got to his starting isle and began to restock all of the shelves. This was mind-numbing work in Shane's opinion. He sat at the shelf and thought about the thousands of things he could be doing that would be better than work.

The farmer was still getting to know the town and the people in it. They had officially met everyone and went almost everywhere, except one place. The Joja branch that was in town. The farmer avoided the store like the plague, but they knew that Shane worked there, and there was no one else in town that the farmer wanted to get to know more than Shane. So the farmer walked into the store like the company didn't destory their life at one point. They looked around as poor memories of their past flooded back to them. This hell of a company was just inescapable for the farmer. They began to walk the isles until they stumbled upon Shane sitting on the floor putting cereal on one of the shelves. 

"What are you doing here farmer?" Shane asked from the ground. The new farmer was standing over him. He wasn't a fan of new townspeople, he had enough of a problem with the old ones. The farmer just stood there staring in some form of shock at him, making Shane even more confused than he was originally. "Well, spit it out. What is your problem farmer?" he questioned. He followed their shocked gaze down to his arms. "Oh shit..." Shane trailed off. He had removed his jacket, not thinking about why he always wore it in the first place. The scars that littered his flesh from years ago. Shane looked at the farmer. "Listen, I guess I should explain all of this..." he motioned to this wrists, "meet me at the saloon tonight at 8, and I'll tell you." The farmer nodded and walked away, leaving Shane to run and get his jacket before anyone else who didn't know saw it.

The farmer almost ran out of the store. Shane's secret had thrown them completely off guard. They had decided the moment they saw his scars that they would help in anyway that he would let them. They had grown to care about Shane even in the short period of time they knew him. He was cold and rude, but the farmer believed that they could bring out the best in him. Assuming he let them try to help. The farmer decided to not worry about it until tonight, and went home to care for the farm until 8.

Shane sat at the bar, drinking even more than he usually would. "Hey Shane, you doing alright? That's a lot of beer so quickly." Gus asked leaning over the counter. Shane just nodded and continued to drink away the incident earlier that day. He heard the door open at exactly 8, and then he was face to face with a worry-ridden farmer. Shane released a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Come on farmer, let's go somewhere less crowded than a saloon." Shane led the farmer to the dock off of the beach. It was completely deserted since Willy was out drinking. Shane sat down and hung his feet off of the edge of the dock, and the farmer did the same. Shane turned to see the farmer looking at him expectantly. Despite the cold, he removed his jacket. "I've had these scars for years. I used to play soccer, and I was on my way to play perfessionally. Then, I got into a really bad accident. I broke two of my ribs, my arm..." Shane paused as though just telling the story was causing him pain, "and completely shattered my leg. The doctors were able to put it together well enough for me to be able to walk, but not play soccer." Shane paused and looked over to the farmer. They were shivering and very focused on the story Shane was telling. Shane grabbed his jacket and threw it over the farmer's shoulders.

The farmer looked at Shane confused, and he smiled for the first time all night. "There's no reason to freeze your ass off for me." The farmer nodded, and Shane turned to continue. "Soccer was my everything, and it was taken from me so quickly that I didn't know what to do." His hands clentched into fists, "I fell into an abyss of depression and I lost control of my emotions, and my actions." He looked down at his scars that littered the veins on his wrists and arms. "I just started to do anything to get control back, to feel like not everything was taken from me. Now..." He paused, "now I live with these scars forever imbedded in my skin to remind me of how fucked up my life is." The farmer felt tears swell in their eyes. Seeing Shane this broken was heartbreaking for them. They reached over and pulled the depressed alcoholic into their arms. Shane tensed up at the touch, but eventually relaxed. The farmer could no longer hold back the tears.

Shane felt his shoulder start to get wet. He pulled the farmer off of him. "Hey, why are you crying? I'm not something to cry about. I'm a pessimistic, washed-up, unimportant alcoholic with failed dreams and..." Shane stopped as he watched the farmer become angry. He looked at them with a confused expression. "Shane, you're so much more than you make yourself out to be. You are one of the most caring people I have ever met in my life once I got to know you. You deserve so much more than what you have. You are the most important person in this entire town to me." The farmer choked out between sobs. All of it was true, Shane was the only person in the town the farmer truly cared about and wanted to spend time with, even if he hated them. Shane stared at the farmer in shock, and then began to smile. "You know farmer, I didn't know that you even talked that much." The farmer felt themselves blush.

Shane saw the blush rise to the farmer's face and he felt heat rush to his own. He never paid enough attention to notice how much the farmer cared about him. They always met up with him before and after work, always bought him drinks and would walk him home when he was too drunk to do it himself, and they heard him out about his past. The farmer cared about him, somone truly cared about him. Shane leaned forward until his lips met the farmers. He felt the farmer tense up, and he began to worry that he made a mistake. Right as he was about to pull away however, the farmer relaxed and began to kiss him back. The two of them sat like that for a while until Shane pulled away. "I...I didn't realize anyone would ever truly care about me. I thought I was a lost cause. You care though, you truly care. I'm so sorry I've been rude to you, there is no excuse, please forgive me." Shane babbled out. The farmer smiled and threw themselves onto Shane in a giant hug.  
"So, I'm sorry I don't have a bouquet, but I was wondering if you maybe wanted to..." The farmer trailed off. Shane smiled at the blushing farmer. "If you're sure you want to put up with my broken alcoholic ass, then yes, I'd be happy to be your boyfriend." Shane said pulling away to see the farmer. The farmer smiled at Shane, who was now also blushing furiously. "We need to work on your self confidence."   
"One thing at a time." Shane said with a laugh before leaning in for another kiss. Neither of them knew what the future held, but they could tell it was going to be great.


End file.
